FunToos's video: Indian Wrestling Dangal

This is a Indian kushti, dangal, Indian wrestling. Pehlwani is a form of wrestling contested in the Indian subcontinent. It was developed in the Mughal Empire by combining Persian koshti pahlevani with influences from native Indian malla-yuddha.[1][2] The words pehlwani and kushti derive from the Persian terms pahlavani (heroic) and koshti (wrestling, lit. killing) respectively, meaning Heroic wrestling. It is likely that the word derives from the Iranian word "Pehalavi" denoting to people of Iranian descent. A practitioner of this sport is referred to as a pehlwan (Persian originated word for hero) while teachers are known as ustad (Persian word for teacher or master).[2] One of the most famous practitioners of pehlwani was The Great Gama (Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt), who is considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.[3] Pehlwani greatly influenced catch wrestling,[4][5] which in turn inspired folkstyle wrestling, freestyle wrestling, and mixed martial arts (MMA). The ancient Indian form of wrestling is called malla-yuddha.[2] Practiced at least since the 5th millennium BC,[7][8] described in the 13th century treatise Malla Purana, it was the precursor of modern kushti.[1] In the 16th century, northern India was conquered by the Central Asian Mughals, who were of Turko-Mongol descent. Through the influence of Iranian and Mongolian wrestling, they incorporated groundwork to the local malla-yuddha, thereby creating modern kushti. Babur, the first Mughal emperor, was a wrestler himself and could reportedly run very fast for a long distance while holding a man under each arm. Mughal-era wrestlers sometimes even wore bagh naka on one hand, in a variation called naki ka kushti or "claw wrestling". Illustration of two wrestlers (1825). During the late 17th century, Ramadasa the "father of Indian athletics" travelled the country encouraging Hindus to physical activity in homage to the great god Hanuman. Maratha rulers supported kushti by offering large sums of prize money for tournament champions. It was said that every Maratha boy at the time could wrestle and even women took up the sport. During the colonial period, local princes sustained the popularity of kushti by hosting matches and competitions. Wrestling was the favourite spectator sport of the Rajputs, and were said to look forward to tournaments "with great anxiety". Every Rajput prince or chief had a number of wrestling champions to compete for his entertainment. The greatest wrestling centres were said to be Uttar Pradesh and the Panjab. Trained Sikhs in the Perak Armed Police demonstrating Pehlawani wrestling, circa 1880-1890. In 1909, a Bengali merchant named Adbul Jabbar Saudagar intended to unite the local youth and inspire them in the anti-British struggle against the colonists through a display of strength by holding a wrestling tournament. Known as Jabbar-er Boli Khela, this competition has continued through independence and the subsequent partition. It is still held in Bangladesh every Boishakhi Mela (Bengali new year), accompanied by playing of the traditional sanai (flute) and dabor (drum), and is one of Chittagong's oldest traditions. In the more recent past, India had famous wrestlers of the class of the Great Gama (of British India and later Pakistan, after partition) and Gobar Goho. India reached its peak of glory in the IV Asian Games (later on called Jakarta Games) in 1962 when all the seven wrestlers were placed on the medal list and in between them they won 12 medals in freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling. A repetition of this performance was witnessed again when all the 8 wrestlers sent to the Commonwealth Games held at Kingston, Jamaica had the distinction of getting medals for the country. During the 60s, India was ranked among the first eight or nine wrestling nations of the world and hosted the world wrestling championships in New Delhi in 1967. Pehlwans who compete in wrestling nowadays are also known to cross train in the grappling aspects of judo and jujutsu. Legendary wrestlers from the bygone era like Karl Gotch have made tours to India to learn kushti and further hone their skills. Karl Gotch was even gifted a pair of mugdar (heavy wooden clubs used for building the arm and shoulder muscles by South Asian wrestlers). The conditioning exercises of pehlwani have been incorporated into many of the conditioning aspects of both catch wrestling and shoot wrestling, along with their derivative systems. These systems also borrow several throws, submissions and takedowns from pehlwani. There are many styles exists for Pehlwani but most common is the BELT WRESTLING around the world under the control of International Belt Wrestling Association (IBWA).